Pictured at right is the suspect in an ATM slaying in Detroit. Inset is the bright pink car of the victim. / Detroit Police

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Detroit police are searching for the person who fatally shot a man at a bank ATM this morning.

“They shot him five times and they pistol whipped him in the face and then they took his wallet,” said Evelyn Cross of Detroit, who identified the victim as her brother, 62-year-old James Blade. “He didn’t deserve this.”

Detroit police didn’t release Blade’s name but said the victim was sitting in his vehicle near an ATM at a bank on 16000 block of East Warren when a suspect approached the passenger side and opened fire. Cross said the bank was a Charter One branch.

The shooting happened around 9:45 a.m.

“Whoever murdered my brother, if they had asked for his car or his money, he would have given it to them to save his life,” Cross said.

Cross said her brother had two adult children and a 6-year-old son, plus two grandchildren. Blade was a pastor who worked to help rehabilitate drug addicts, she said, and drove a bright pink BMW. He loved going to church and hunting for antiques at thrift stores.

Detroit police said the suspect is in his 20s, about 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds. He wore blue jeans and a red or orange sweatshirt with a black hood, police said. He was seen leaving the scene in a silver or gray Mercury Marquis with tinted windows.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the homicide unit at (313) 596-2260 or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP (1-800-773-2587).